Last night, our kitchen magically morphed into healthy Panda Express:
I remember the exact day Panda Express showed up at our local shopping mall. I was in 7th grade—the age where girls ditch their parents, get glammed up in more makeup than kabuki performers, and hang out at the mall every single weekend, feeling incredibly cool and grown up.
After Panda Express moved in, you suddenly couldn’t set foot in the building without being hit by the addictive aroma of their orange sesame sauce. It called to us as we perused the displays of glitter eyeliner at Sephora. (Why did I ever think sparkly neon green eyeliner was a good look for me?) It beckoned to us while we debated the pink pleather pants from Wet Seal. (Sadly, I did end up buying a pair.) And then, as we purchased our much-too-short shorts at Abercrombie and Fitch, the orange sesame aroma practically screamed to us. (Perhaps it was simply trying to be heard over A&F’s ridiculously-loud music.)
Finally, we’d give in to temptation, devouring every sweet orange bite.
Last night we thought it’d be fun to make a Panda-inspired dinner, complete with chopsticks and Chinese takeout containers from Michaels. At first I thought to make tofu. But… cauliflower just seemed way more fun! For the cauliflower, I used: this cauliflower recipe.
(If you’d prefer, you can make “popcorn cauliflower” by combining 1/2 cup any type of flour with 1/2 cup water, dipping cauliflower florets into this mixture, baking 20 minutes at 425F, then pouring the sauce on top and baking another few minutes.)
To recreate Panda Express’s “secret” sauce, I first looked at the ingredients in their bottled sauce and many copycat recipes online. Then I gathered some basic ingredients common in all of the recipes (vinegar, garlic, ginger…) and played around with the proportions until the sauce tasted just as good as better than the one from Panda Express. What follows is some really, really good sauce.
You’ll want to put it on everything!
Healthy Panda Express Orange Sauce
- 1/2 cup vegetable broth (120g)
- 2 tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot (30g)
- 3-4 tbsp orange marmalade (45-60g)
- 2 tbsp minced garlic (30g)
- 1/2 tsp powdered ginger
- 2 tbsp + 2 tsp rice vinegar (45g)
- 2 stevia packets, or 2 tbsp sugar (Liquid sweetener will work; just use a bit more cornstarch for thickening.)
- 2 tbsp soy sauce or gf tamari (30g)
- optional: 1 tsp sesame oil
- optional: green onions for garnish, crushed red chilis for a spicy variation
Whisk broth and cornstarch or arrowroot until dissolved. Now turn on the heat to low-medium and add all other ingredients. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once it’s thickened, remove from heat. Makes 300g (about 1 1/4 cup). Serve over whatever you wish: rice, veggies, soba, tofu, etc. As noted above, here are the directions if you wish to make chicken-style cauliflower (it works with tofu as well): combine 1/2 cup any type of flour with 1/2 cup water, dip florets of one head cauliflower into this mixture, bake 20 minutes at 425F, then pour the sauce on top and bake another few minutes.
View Orange Sauce Nutrition Facts
LINK OF THE DAY:
I’ve never commented before, but I just wanted to say I love your site! I’ve run into a problem though… because I really want to try your never-ending bowl of oats trick for breakfast but I am just too addicted to your pumpkin/banana bread in a bowl! For the last week, I’ve been saying “This is gonna be the day.” Maybe tomorrow…
Anyway, thanks for such a wonderful blog and sharing all your great recipes with us. Those pictures look delicious!
Wow! This looks awesome! Can’t wait to try it!
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What a coincidence! I just posted a blog about a healthified Panda Express dish too! Even crazier similarity, I started writing about its first opening at my school and the lure of the aroma. I made mine with tofu and cornstarch, but you went even more healthified with baked cauliflower! Looks delicious and I couldn’t even tell it wasn’t chicken. I was surprised when you mentioned baking cauliflower.
Your recipe reminded me, I forgot to add ginger to mine! I definitely shall have to try your version sometime. Thanks!
Sounds lovely! Hubby misses greasy Chinese Food! Think stuff like this does the trick for him without all the ick factor!
I’m definitely making this! I love their orange sauce and I bought their bottled version at the store and it was AWFUL! I threw it away. I can’t wait to make this!
Making this, this week! Went shopping for the goods yesterday. Can’t wait to try it out. Thank you for such awesome recipes!
I don’t like sweet sauces (except as dipping sauce) on my Chinese food, but I absolutely love the dish called Buddhist Delight that I get at my local take-out place. The sauce is just a simple brown sauce — I guess it’s made with soy sauce, cornstarch, and veggie broth? But what I love about it is the broccoli. I am a crusader for the cruciferous vegetables — I can never get enough. My boyfriend gets Kung Pao Tofu every single time, and I always sneak a few pieces of his tofu for myself.
When I worked at the mall when I was 20, I used to get Panda Express Hot & Sour Soup for dinner every single night. I ought to look into a vegan recipe for that.
This is just brilliant! Look forward to making it!
I love your web site and especially love when you post something savory. It is a rarity to see your savory dishes so I know it is going to be great. One question – Would frozen cauliflower work? Defrosted then broiled to get it crispy? It could save a bunch of prep time. I am kinda lazy :).
I haven’t tried it, but I don’t see why not!
I love your recipes! I just made this for dinner and it worked perfectly. It tastes exactly like restaurant orange chicken. I made a whole wheat ginger batter and coated cauliflower and zucchini. Then, I baked it as you sad. Crispy and perfect! 🙂 We ate it over bulgur and it was amazing! 🙂
Thank you for another genius recipe!
Katie, I just made this and it’s awesome! Thank you so much for creating this recipe. I used sugar-free orange marmalade, and added in a bit of orange peel zest as well. I even cut back a little on the cornstarch, and it was plenty thick! My brother who loves Chinese food thought it was yummy too!
You’re a genius 🙂
Thanks for a great recipe! Please post a picture of the neon green eyeliner!
Yummy!! This looks amazing! I love Panda Express but I don’t eat it because it’s not healthy, now I can make it at home! Thank you!!
Had this for dinner tonight. It was delicious! Will be in our regular rotation! Thanks.
Looks great! Will definitely try this soon! 😀
You lived in China? When? How long? How well do you speak Chinese? (Sorry if you answered this already somewhere)
A little over a year, when I was in high school :).
I speak a little… but I definitely can’t follow a conversation or anything!
Oh I see! I finally got around to making this today and my whole family thought it was amazing! Even my grumpy teenage brother gave his seal of approval!
Really great! Tastes just like the real thing, and now I don’t have to run to the mall to get it! 😉
You’re so brilliant at putting recipes together! I wish I could do it- but I’d end up the size of a house eating all the fail recipes 😉